


Watching Him Work

by Likemycoffee



Series: The Comic and the Paralympian [1]
Category: The Last Leg RPF
Genre: Complete fiction, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 02:31:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12289326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Likemycoffee/pseuds/Likemycoffee
Summary: Josh loves watching Jonnie race. Jonnie loves watching Josh perform.





	Watching Him Work

Josh loves watching Jonnie when he's sprinting.

In the days building up to a big race, Jonnie seems to slide into a state of calm focus as he mentally prepares himself. He runs the race in his head; he knows his fellow competitors strengths and weaknesses; knows who will go out hard from the blocks and who will struggle but power through the last 20 meters into medal contention.

Jonnie never seems nervous before a race. Josh doesn't understand that. Jonnie trains so hard all year round, but ultimately, his success or failure as an athlete comes down to between ten and eleven seconds of race time at the all too few para-athletics events in the sporting calendar. Josh doesn't understand how that can't be daunting. If he has a bad gig, he can try again with a fresh crowd the next night. If Jonnie has a bad race, it could be four years before he gets a chance to make it right again.

He remembers seeing Jonnie race in London; when he'd broken the world record and beaten Oscar Pistorius. Back before they were lovers, before they were even friends. Josh remembers when Jonnie had lined up on the blocks and Josh saw only the look of pure determination and self belief in his eyes, that was when he completely fell under Jonnie Peacock's spell.

Four years later in Rio, Josh is still just as captivated, only now they've moved away from "just friends" and are starting to enter into the territory of "maybe something more." There have been some flirtatious late night text messages; more than a few lingering looks; touches...

Josh is the self declared leader of #teamjonniepeacock and he doesn't mind the teasing from Adam and Johnny Vegas because he's watching Jonnie go through his final warm up stretches on the start line before crouching down into the blocks.

Afterwards, Josh wonders if it's weird that he was so turned on by watching Jonnie's race. It's a sight to behold: the explosion out of the blocks as the starter pistol fires; the muscles straining in his arms, his thighs so strong and powerful, carrying him forward; chest heaving to draw in enough oxygen to carry his body at that record breaking pace; Jonnie giving everything he has physically got to give to those few short seconds.

It's his eyes that really take Josh's breath away. It's the intensity he finds there; the same intensity that he fixes on Josh minutes later when he goes into the athletes area to congratulate him and then Jonnie pushes him against the wall and kisses him hard as he comes down from the post race high; later, in Josh's hotel room, that gaze is fixed on him again when Jonnie hangs his gold medal around Josh's neck and then rides him, until they're both exhausted and collapse together, now definitely in the 'more than just friends' category.

\---

Jonnie loves watching Josh performing standup.

He's seen him on TV countless times, even before they met. Jonnie's spent time watching Mock the Week repeats on Dave while he was bored the same as everyone else and since 2012, when he first started to think of Josh as a friend and then later as something more, he'd taken more of an interest. He's YouTubed a few live at the Apollo episodes, not that he'd ever admit that to Josh, and he's always made a point of Sky Plus-ing The Last Leg just in case he misses an episode, but watching Josh perform these short, edited for TV and sometimes pre-watershed segments, is nothing compared to seeing Josh perform his stand up live.

Jonnie doesn't sit in the audience. They'd agreed it would be too conspicuous and they're both keen to keep this newly budding relationship to themselves for a little while longer, so he sits backstage and watches from the wings while Josh delivers his carefully crafted set to the rapt audience.

Jonnie has some idea of how much work Josh has put into this show. He's seen him working on the material, even in Rio, so close to the official start of the tour, he'd been reworking jokes - 'you don't know if it's funny until you try it in front of an audience,' - he'd explained one lunchtime when Jonnie had asked him about it. He's amazed how Josh can make it look effortless, talking to the audience, interacting with them, making it seem like the entire set is being made up on the spot just for their entertainment.

Josh looks so comfortable in front of the crowd. Jonnie can't understand it. If he had to standing in front of a crowd that size - or indeed any size - and have to talk to them, all on his own and have to try and make them laugh, he would turn and run in the opposite direction and probably break another world record while doing it.

He watches how Josh controls the audience, running with the stories, going off on a different tangent at a moment's notice, his brain must be working overtime. Jonnie finds it incredibly sexy to watch.

He's always been attracted to guys with brains. He's around other athletes all the time and yeah, he can appreciate a well defined six pack as much as anyone, but if he had to choose, he'd go for the clever guy who can make him laugh any day.

Josh is so full of energy when he's performing live. He bounces off the audience and they feed off it. Jonnie loves the way Josh's eyes light up when he gets like this, how he seems to buzz with excitement but he's still insecure.

When Josh finishes his set and Jonnie follows him back to his dressing room, Josh almost shyly asks 'what did you think?'

'You were brilliant,' Jonnie tells him honestly, wanting to wipe any trace of doubt from his mind. 'I loved it.'

Josh's smile bursts out and he cups Jonnie's face in his hands and kisses him. Jonnie returns the kiss with equal intensity, twisting his fingers in Josh's hair, lightly tugging on the curls.

_I love you_ , he wants to say. Not yet. But yeah one day very soon


End file.
